


A Family Outing

by wholockedpsycho7



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005), Frozen (2013)
Genre: Clumsiness, F/M, Family Movie, Fidgeting, Going to the movies, Might as well have ADHD, Not even sure, Popcorn, cinema, popped Into my head
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-05
Updated: 2014-05-05
Packaged: 2018-01-22 02:21:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1572563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wholockedpsycho7/pseuds/wholockedpsycho7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I don't get it!" The Doctor threw his hands in the air and began pacing. "I have a 40 foot telly that can broadcast any movie from any century in the universe, and your wife wants to go to an Earth cinema and watch Thawed?"</p><p>Rory sighed and plopped down in the pilot's chair. "I believe it's called Frozen, Doctor."</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Family Outing

**Author's Note:**

> Popped into my head while watching Frozen for the umpteenth time. Sit back (sort of) and enjoy!

"I don't get it!" The Doctor threw his hands in the air and began pacing. "I have a 40 foot telly that can broadcast any movie from any _century_ in the universe, and your wife wants to go to an Earth cinema and watch _Thawed_?"

 

Rory sighed and plopped down in the pilot's chair. "I believe it's called _Frozen,_ Doctor."

 

"Right, right, that's the one before the sequel." He waved it off. "But still! I give her all of time and space's movies _right here_ in the TARDIS, but somehow it's more appealing to watch it in a movie theater, where God knows how many germs are, and people have kissed in the seats! How could it possibly-"

 

"Shut up, honey." River said as she walked- well, the Doctor thought, _strided_ into the control room. "She just wants a normal family outing. You can't blame her, nothing about her life is normal."

 

 

"Exactly! So why do something normal?" The Doctor sighed and checked the scanner. "Seriously, they remade that movie 12 times. Once, I played the guy-what's his name?"

 

"No, that was Moll Flanders, and you were one of the extras on the street." River corrected, running a hand through her purse and making sure he had everything.

 

"The point still stands! That movie's been remade again and again. You  humans can't leave anything the way it is, I guess. But if she really wants to go see it, let's go see one of the newer ones!"

 

"No." A Scottish voice came from behind. River smirked as her mother made her way down the stairs. "We are going to do something that normal people do, and we are going to act like a normal family."

 

"Amy, your daughter is older than you. We aren't normal people!"

 

Amy narrowed her eyes. "I have a very interesting picture involving a spa that I have a feeling you don't want my husband to see."

 

The Doctor's face reddened, and he sputtered a bit before taking a nervous glance at Rory. "So, what cinema would you like to go to?" He finally asked.

 

"No, what picture are you talking about?" Rory said, laying a hand on his wife's arm.

 

The red-head smirked. "I don't have one. But apparently, something has gone on in that spa that he doesn't want pictures taken of."

 

The Doctor frowned and pouted, and River threw her head back and laughed.

 

\------------

 "I'd like two jumbo popcorns, with extra butter." The Doctor turned to his wife. "River, you want extra butter, right?"

 

She rolled her eyes. "Sweetie, I don't want popcorn."

 

The Doctor turned back around to talk to the cashier. "Okay, put extra butter on the second one, but not as much as the first one."

 

Amy and Rory were already in the theater room, probably eating all their food before the actual movie even started. The Doctor had grabbed River's arm and brought her to the counter, even though she'd protested that she didn't want anything. At the moment, he was pondering over drink choices. "I'll take a Coca-Cola, and my wife wants a-" He thought a moment, then turned to her. "Dr. Pepper, right?"

 

She nodded wordlessly and checked her watch. The movie was going to start without them.

 

"Hey, do me a favor and carry this bucket of popcorn." He handed it to her, balancing the drinks carefully in his arms.

 

"We're going to miss part of the movie if we don't hurry up." She stated.

 

He checked his watch, and his eyes widened. "Dammit! Come on!" He rushed ahead of her, and she grinned when he almost spilled his drink all over some elderly lady. "I'm sorry." He mumbled apologies to the woman, and handed her his drink before grabbing River's hand. "You can have my drink, I haven't taken a sip yet," and dragged her to the door.

 

Sure enough, the movie had already started. But the screen was switching from the men loading the ice to the blond boy and his reindeer, so they hadn't missed much.

 

The Doctor  was, as usual in quiet places, ridiculously loud and clumsy as they made their way to Amy and Rory. At one point he stepped on a man's foot and tripped. Fortunately, River had taken his popcorn after the old-lady accident.

 

He stood up and tried to dust himself off in a dignified manner. River felt all the eyes in the room on them, including her parents', and she shoved her husband forward. "Move!"

 

He threw a glare over his shoulder at her and managed to walk the rest of the way down the aisle without incapitating anyone.

 

She sat down gracefully beside him and handed him his popcorn. He took it gratefully and leaned over to kiss her cheek, earning a few more glares as he blocked the people behind them's view of the movie.

 

"The sky's awake, so I'm awake!" Little Anna said on the screen, and plopped down on top of her sister. The Doctor fidgeted.

 

"Go play by yourself." Elsa retorted, and shoved the little girl off the bed. The Doctor bit his lip.

 

"Do you wanna build a snowman?" Anna said. The Doctor groaned quietly, and River reached over and placed a hand on his knee. There was a reason he didn't go to cinemas. He couldn't sit still long enough to maintain a conversation, much less watch a movie he'd seen over 100 times again.

 

He placed his hand over hers as Elsa made a small ball of snow between her hands. "Fun fact, there's a race called the Wutaline that can do the exact same thing. Except they don't really have hands, more like-"

 

He was shushed by the people behind him.

 

He turned around and glared back. "Hey, this is England, and I can't get ar-"

 

"Shut up, honey." River whispered, eyes on the screen. She'd only seen the movie once, when she was at Greystark. It had been during her very little free time, and the nice man had given her a small video player that had the movie on it. She hadn't known at the time that it was made in the future, but had nonetheless loved it. It was one of her few happy memories from her first ten years.

 

The Doctor huffed and turned back to the movie.

 

To be fair, he lasted until the coronation when he spoke again. "Really, the gloves were not that big of a deal. She's a queen, she can do what she likes, and if that means-"

 

"I will gag you with that stupid bow tie." River warned, squeezing his knee.

 

The people sitting directly in front of them decided that they'd had enough, and moved seats.

 

He cast a guilty look her way and bit his lip. "I'm sorry, but I can't just _sit_ here. It's a little difficult, in case you hadn't noticed."

 

She heard Rory groan from the Doctor's right. "Stop talking." He whispered to his son-in-law.

 

The Doctor nodded and mimed zippering his mouth shut and locking it.

 

His hand had moved to her thigh by the time Anna was introducing Hans to Elsa.

 

When it inched up more, she grabbed it. "Stop it. We're in a theater!" She whispered. "I'm bored." He grumbled. "Why don't you amuse yourself with thinking up more plausible solutions to the plot like you usually do, then?" She responded, exasperated.

 

"I've already done that."

 

"Then do it again."

 

The family behind them probably thought that his continual whispering was bad enough. Ha. It was much worse in the scene where Elsa made the castle.

 

At first it was gentle humming, and she didn't say anything. Then it was murmuring the lyrics as he tapped his fingers to the beat on her thigh.

 

Then it was quiet singing that, although not full-blown, she was sure their half of the theater could hear.

 

"Let it go, let it go,  can't hold it back anymore! I don't care, what they're going to say, let the storm  rage on-"

 

She clapped a hand over his mouth.

 

He turned his head slightly to her, then reached up and removed the hand. "What? I was just humming."

 

"You're going to get us kicked out." She hissed.

 

"Well, what would you prefer me to do? I've thought up 23 scenarios already and played a chess game in my head." At her incredulous look he continued, "Sort of."

 

"Eat your popcorn, then." She replied, pushing the bowl closer to his chest.

 

The couple behind them stood up to move at that point, grumbling about manners.

 

He sighed but did as he was told.

 

He lasted much longer this time. Until the wolf-sled chase, actually.

 

She was watching the movie, and then his arm brushed against her chest. "What're you doing?" She demanded.

 

"Can I have some of your drink?" He asked, and she realized his hand wasn't, in fact, reaching for what she thought it was. "I handed mine to that lady back there after I almost dumped it on her, and this popcorn is making me thirsty."

 

She sighed and nodded, picking it up and handing it over. That kept him quiet for about two minutes.

 

Then he was commenting on how Olaf really would've noticed that he was impaled, because he had to have some sort of nervous system to move. That turned into a quiet debate when she argued back that the Yuguilad race didn't have a nervous system, to which he replied that they might as well have been plants.

 

Needless to say, their side of the room was empty except for the Pond family.

 

They agreed to disagree about the time that Hans revealed he was betraying Anna.

 

River was perfectly fine for another 10 minutes. Then the Doctor made a slurping noise with her drink that could easily be heard across the room.

 

By the time the movie was over, the Doctor was completely alone on the aisle.

 

\---------------

"Really, Pond. How could you ever think I'd be able to sit and watch that movie _again?_ Do you have any idea how boring it is to watch Olaf melt for the umpteenth time?"

 

"Well, I thought it was a good movie." Amy replied, tossing her candy wrapper into a nearby trashcan. "Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't get us kicked out."

 

He huffed and crossed his arms. "Ye have little faith."

 

"Yes, little faith that you're ever going to a cinema again with me." River said, smirking.

 

"You, of all people, should know how bored I get! Come on!"

 

Rory, who hadn't spoken much all evening, finally said something. "I noticed how bored you were getting." The words were paired with a dangerous glare that the Doctor didn't seem to notice.

 

"There, see, at least your father understands. It was so-" The Time Lord finally noticed the look on his face. "What did I do?"

 

Rory stepped closer to him. "Don't ever grope my daughter in the theater again."

 

\-----------

After a lovely conversation with her father and husband about self-respect in public, she turned in for the night and went to their room.

 

The Doctor was already there, having scurried away from her father as fast as possible.

 

"Hey." He greeted her.

 

"Hey, honey. I'm going for a bath. You want one?"

 

"No thanks. I'm just going to finish this force-field first." He motioned to the lumps of metal he had in front of him, and she rolled her eyes. "Okay."

 

She had a nice, long soak before she finally got out and walked to the sink to brush her teeth.

 

Humming softly, she grabbed some disinfectant and a recyclable paper towel and wiped down her faucet.

 

When she turned to the trash can to throw it away, the flap got caught on something already in there. Curious, as this was her first night in their room on this visit, she pulled the lid off.

 

And burst into laughter.

 

The Doctor immediately ran in, but looked horrified when he found why she was laughing.

 

"Really, honey," River held up the empty can of Red Bull, a smirk on her face, "if you need some sleep, just say so."

**Author's Note:**

> References, references.... catch the Moll Flanders one? :) Well, I just made you do it, anyway. 
> 
> So, what did you think? Reviews tend to be my best friend...


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